Garment with draping material extending from a collar portion that drapes to protect hair of the wearer

ABSTRACT

A garment having a draping material extending from a collar portion thereof. The draping material may extend in a flat condition for up to four feet from the collar portion but also be adapted to move to a retracted condition bunched up along the collar portion. In certain embodiment, a cinching cord and locking element may be operatively associated with the draping material to enable the wearer of the garment to move the draping material between the extending and retracted conditions with a tug of the cinching cord.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to haircare and articles of clothing and,more particularly, to a garment with draping material extending from acollar portion thereof so that the draping material can drape forapproximately two feet or more to protect the hair of a wearer of thegarment when the wearer is lounging or recumbent. Hair becomes dry,brittle, and thin when directly touching moisture-absorbing fabrics likecotton, which has a marked breathable and porous plain weave.Additionally, cotton fabric and other fabrics can leave lint in the hairwhen it is not a cotton sateen, woven in a satin weave, or is porousmaterial. This is particularly true for certain hair textures/patternswhich tend to retain lint from fibrous materials. A taut satin weave ornon-moister-absorbing fabric help to reduce the amount of lint transferand minimizes breakage.

Certain materials, like satin, because of how they are made and woven,do not tend to dry out hair or collect lint. A satin weave, made fromcontinuous fibers that are tautly woven, creates a durable, shiny, andsoft fabric. However, satin garments are too thin to retain warmth andtoo evocative to be worn around children. Though a satin garment, suchas a robe, could facilitate keeping hair lint-free, there is no satingarment that provides a connected extension of draping materialpurposefully for laying it in a flat condition for resting hair on.

Currently, garments do have fabric extend from a collar portion—i.e., ahood. Hoods on garments, however, restrain the hair, preventing the hairfrom unfurling and otherwise result in ‘hood/hat hair’. Additionally,hoods, are by their nature two non-co-planar pieces of fabric that arejoined together inherently folded, cannot lay in flat condition withouthaving at least the two pieces/layers stacked on top of each other orotherwise result in a lumpy disposition because of the crease or seemneeded for joining the two non-co-planar pieced, to make a hood a hood.This stacking of multiple layers tends to form lumps and not lay flat asreadily as a single layer of material.

Prior to now, satin robes were too thin to retain heat, and cotton robesdid not have a satin lined exterior to protect the hair ofhair-conscious individuals lounging along or recumbent on amoisture-absorbing surface when their hair drapes thereon; especially,those with longer hair that would extend well beyond the traditionalcollar portion of the garment.

As can be seen, there is a need for a garment with a draping materialextending from a collar portion of the garment in such a way as to drapeover a surface the wearer is recumbent or lounging on, therebyprotecting the hair from contacting a moisture-absorbing portion of thesurface. The draping material may be satin or other material that ishydrophobic as well as lint-phobic. The draping material may extend as asingle sheet thereof for up to four feet or more from the collar portionfor accommodating longer hair lain flat. The draping material may beadapted to bunch up along the collar portion. Just inward of the drapingmaterial may be a cord tunnel for accommodating a cord that the wearercan manipulate to cinch the draping material about the collar portion ina collapsed, bunched-up state.

The present invention combines the best of both words as it can offer awarm wearing fabric along a body portion of the garment, while providinga non-moisture absorbing draping material extending from a collarportion of the garment. The draping fabric is adapted for draping overmoisture-absorbing fabrics so that the recumbent wearer's hair isprotected as opposed to directly contacting the supporting surface onwhich the wearer lies—for instance, furniture on which the wearerlounges. The draping material may be satin or other materials thatpossess non-moister-absorbing properties for covering themoisture-absorbing fabrics that hair of the wearer would otherwisecontact with the wearer lying down. The warm wearing fabric could becotton or any other fabric capable of serving the purpose of retainingwarmth, while the draping fabric serves as a protective layer for thewearer's hair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a garment for protecting awearer's hair from exposure to surrounding surfaces when the wearer islounging or recumbent includes the following: a collar portion of thegarment, wherein the collar portion is adapted to be located adjacent toa rear neck of a wearer of the garment; a draping material planarlyextending from the collar portion for at least two feet in an extendedcondition; and the draping material being a hydrophobic and lint-phobicmaterial, wherein the hydrophobic and lint-phobic material may be satin,wherein the garment may be made from a clothing material, wherein theclothing material is different from the draping material. In furtherembodiments, a filament actuator may be operatively associated thedraping material in such a way that the draping material is movablebetween the extended condition and a retracted condition bunched upalong the collar portion, wherein the filament actuator is a cinching,wherein the filament actuator is disposed in a tunnel inward of aperiphery of the draping material; a locking device for locking thedraping material at or between the extended and retracted conditions;and at least one pocket along the garment for removably storing thelocking device and a distal portion of the filament actuator.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of keeping hairfrom contacting a supporting surface a wearer of the hair is lounging orrecumbent on or near includes the following easy steps: donning theabove-mentioned garment and ensuring the draping material is in theextended condition and draped over the supporting surface.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, shown in use in an extended condition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention in the collapsed condition;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention with the draping material in the extended, flatcondition;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention with the draping material in a retracted, collapsedcondition;

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention with the draping material in the extended, flatcondition;

FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, showing a cinching cord, locking element and apocket; and

FIG. 7 is a detailed perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of amounting plate of the present invention, indicated by line 7-7 of FIG.6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplatedmodes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. Thedescription is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merelyfor the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention,since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a garmenthaving a draping material extending from a collar portion thereof. Thedraping material may extend in a flat condition for up to four feet fromthe collar portion but also be adapted to move to a retracted conditionbunched up along the collar portion. In certain embodiment, a cinchingcord and locking element may be operatively associated with the drapingmaterial to enable the wearer of the garment to move the drapingmaterial between the extending and retracted conditions with a tug ofthe cinching cord.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 7, the present invention may include agarment 11 dimensioned and adapted to be worn along at least the uppertorso of a human wearer. The garment 11 may include a collar portion 22located adjacent to a collar bone of the wearer. A draping material 10may extend from the collar portion 22 in a flat condition. The drapingmaterial 10 may be a single sheet or ply of draping material. In otherembodiments, the draping material 10 may be two or more plies of drapingfabric 10. The draping material 10 may be satin or other materials thatmay hydrophobic, water resistant, otherwise do not absorb water, as wellas “lint-phobic”. The draping material 10 may extend generally radiallyfrom the collar portion for four feet or more.

Along a periphery of the draping material 10 may be a cinching cord of afilament actuator 14 whose ends are outside of the draping material 10adjacent to the collar portion 22. In certain embodiments, the cinchingcord 14 may be disposed in a tunnel along a periphery of the drapingmaterial 10. A user can manipulate or pull the (end or ends of the)cinching cord(s) 14 to urge the draping material 10 between the extendedcondition to a retracted condition bunched up along the collar portion22, as illustrated in the FIGS, much like a draw string.

The cinching cord 14 may have a locking device 16 with a bushing orequivalent 18 for moving the cinching cord 14 between an unlocked and alocked engagement in and at any point between the retracted and extendedconditions. In certain embodiments, unlocking can be attained by slidingthe locking device 16/clasps along the cinching cord 14.

The end(s) of the cinching cord 14 and the locking device(s) 16 may beremovably stored in pockets 20 disposed along an inner surface of thegarment 11 so as to be handy when the wearer needs to release thedraping fabric 12 for draping or otherwise move the draping material 10between the retracted and extended conditions.

In certain embodiments, the draping material 10 may be sewn along thecollar portion 22 of the garment 11 or inward of the collar portion 22along the inner surface thereof so as to span the shoulder width of thegarment 11. The draping material 10 may drape downward along the back ofthe user under the force of gravity.

A method of using the present invention may include the following. Thegarment 11 disclosed above may be provided. A user may don the garment11 so that the collar portion 22 is located at least adjacent to or nearthe back of their neck so as to be wrapped further around their neck, asillustrated in FIG. 2, so that a body portion of the garment 11 can beworn along at least the upper torso of the wearer.

The wearer may move the draping material 10 to extended condition sothat the draping material 10 lays flat on a supporting surface theirhead is disposed against, for example a pillow as illustrated in FIG. 1.As this supporting surface may include moisture-absorbing fabric, thedraping material 10 (which may or may not be satin fabric) protects thewearer's hair from either drying out because of and/or gathering lintfrom the moisture-absorbing fabric.

Additionally, the present invention can be used as a contraption thatcan cover the head as the wearer rests in cars, on planes, etc.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates toexemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as setforth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A garment for protecting a wearer's hair fromcontacting a surrounding surface when the wearer is lounging orrecumbent thereon, comprising: a collar portion of the garment, whereinthe collar portion is adapted to be located adjacent to a rear neck of awearer of the garment; a draping material planarly extending from thecollar portion for at least two feet in an extended condition; and thedraping material being a hydrophobic and lint-phobic material.
 2. Thegarment for protecting a wearer's hair from contacting a surroundingsurface when the wearer is lounging or recumbent thereon of claim 1,wherein the hydrophobic and lint-phobic material is satin.
 3. Thegarment for protecting a wearer's hair from contacting a surroundingsurface when the wearer is lounging or recumbent thereon of claim 1,wherein the garment is made from a clothing material, wherein theclothing material is different from the draping material.
 4. The garmentfor protecting a wearer's hair from contacting a surrounding surfacewhen the wearer is lounging or recumbent thereon of claim 1, furthercomprising a filament actuator operatively associated the drapingmaterial in such a way that the draping material is movable between theextended condition and a retracted condition bunched up along the collarportion.
 5. The garment for protecting a wearer's hair from contacting asurrounding surface when the wearer is lounging or recumbent thereon ofclaim 4, wherein the filament actuator is a cinching cord.
 6. Thegarment for protecting a wearer's hair from contacting a surroundingsurface when the wearer is lounging or recumbent thereon of claim 4,wherein the filament actuator is disposed in a tunnel inward of aperiphery of the draping material.
 7. The garment for protecting awearer's hair from contacting a surrounding surface when the wearer islounging or recumbent thereon of claim 4, further comprising a lockingdevice for locking the draping material at or between the extended andretracted conditions.
 8. The garment for protecting a wearer's hair fromcontacting a surrounding surface when the wearer is lounging orrecumbent thereon of claim 7, further comprising at least one pocketalong the garment for removably storing the locking device and a distalportion of the filament actuator.
 9. A method of keeping hair of awearer of a garment from contacting a supporting surface the wearer islounging or recumbent on or near, comprising: donning the garment ofclaim 4; and ensuring the draping material is in the extended conditionand draped over the supporting surface.